1. Technical Field
The present invention is directed to methods and apparatus for providing secured telephone connections using a secured telephone connection object. More specifically, the present invention is directed to mechanisms for providing an object for establishment of a communication connection with a creator of the object without informing a recipient of the object as to the telephone number of the creator of the object.
2. Description of Related Art
Many times circumstances arise where a telephone user wishes to have a caller contact the telephone user but would like to keep his or her telephone number private from the caller. This may be desired for privacy reasons to ensure that the user's telephone number remains private in the future, for example. The blocking of caller identification functionality is one example of the telephone service provider's attempt to maintain privacy of telephone numbers of calling parties. However, the blocking of caller identification functionality is performed while a calling party is attempting to establish a communication connection with a called party. The calling party must still know the called party's telephone number in order to attempt the telephone communication connection. Caller identification blocking does not allow a calling party to establish a communication connection without knowing the telephone number of the called party.
Thus, the problem exists with the current telephone technology requiring that the caller know the telephone number of the party that they wish to contact in order for a communication connection to be established. An exception to this requirement comes in the form of caller callback options in which a user may enter a particular code into their telephone unit in order for the last caller to be automatically called back.
For example, the code “*69” informs the public switch, to which the telephone unit is connected, to look up the telephone number of the calling party of the last call received by the public switch destined for the telephone unit. The public switch then attempts to establish a communication connection between the telephone unit and the previous calling party. During this operation, the user of the telephone unit is not informed of the telephone number of the calling party, unless the telephone unit is equipped with caller identification functionality and the calling party has not blocked the caller identification.
There are many problems associated with this approach. First, there is no guarantee that the called party will attempt a callback to the calling party. The called party may not know of the callback option or may not wish to pay the telephone service charges necessary to use the callback option. Second, if caller identification blocking is not used in conjunction with the callback option, then the called party may still be able to obtain the calling party's telephone number using their own caller identification equipment. Third, the callback option is limited to only the last call attempt received by the public switch and any prior call attempts cannot be called back using this functionality. This limits the time in which the called party may use the callback option to call a calling party. That is, if another call attempt directed to the telephone unit is received prior to the callback option being used, then it is not possible to perform a callback to the calling party of the previous call attempt.
Thus, it would be beneficial to have an apparatus and method for establishing telephone communication connections with a party without having to know the party's telephone numbers. Moreover, it would be beneficial to have an apparatus and method that allow a first party to request a second party to establish a communication connection with the first party without informing the second party of the contact address of the first party in a manner that is discernable to the second party. It would further be beneficial to have an apparatus and method for establishing a communication connection in which the party to which call charges are to be applied may be specified.